Page 100 of I Can't Even

But I agreed with Tobin.

This needed to be handled, and we couldn’t just hide our heads in the sand and expect it to handle itself.

“You sure scared the hell out of me, baby girl,” he grumbled as he looked at me.

“I scared myself,” I agreed. “What’s going on?”

“Another girl was taken.”

My heart sank.

“Dr. Brewn was spotted with another man, both in scrubs, as they took a girl from the same apartment complex that you used to live in,” he explained.

Nausea started to rise in my throat as I said, “Who was it?”

“Some girl visiting a family member,” Quaid answered, coming to my other side and leaning his hip against my bed.

“What’s the plan, then?” I asked. “What do you need?”

“I was hoping to jog your brain when it came to two men in scrubs…” Tobin left that statement hanging.

“Two guys in scr…” I paused. “Wait.”

Tobin’s eyes went electric.

“There,” I frowned hard, then turned to Quaid. “That guy. The one I went out on a date with, then changed his tire on the side of the road.”

“What about him?” he asked.

“He was there,” I expounded. “He was there. I remember seeing him, and also remember Dr. Brewn referring to him as Darron.”

Tobin left the room, excitement in his every step.

My dad and Quaid stayed exactly where they were.

“Where’s Mom?” I asked.

“With the Carters, planning a wedding.”

I blinked. “What?”

Quaid chuckled. “Apparently, your mom is planning our wedding because ‘a child can’t be born out of wedlock’ and she expects us to get married in three months.”

I blinked. “I don’t mind getting married, but I have to be able to walk down the aisle, first.”

Quaid’s lips twisted up into a smirk as he said, “I haven’t asked you yet.”

I snorted. “You will.”

I know that I suck at texting back, but please don’t call me.

—Quaid to his brothers

QUAID

2 weeks later

I was in the middle of nowhere, Arkansas.

---